Moscow (dpa) – Viewed through western European eyes, cars made in the former
East Bloc are a fascinating collection of outdated curiosities – from freaks
and monsters on wheels to lumbering luxury.
Money shortages have always made it hard for Eastern European producers to keep
up with modern developments, meaning that many of the latest models on offer
are actually designs from the late 1980s.
The political upheavals which swept eastern Europe at the end of that decade
also left many projects on hold. Other producers saw and still see their future
in making western models under licence.
In 1955, in the Russian city of Nizhni Novgorod, production started of the
Volga M 21, a large saloon of American-influenced styling.
The car, with its 2.5 litre engine, was built until 1971. Its successor, the
GAZ 3102, producing some 150 horsepower, is still available. The basic 3102 was
fundamentally overhauled but its luxury variant remained curiously unchanged.
It is meant to be replaced by the 3111, but that model also only clothes old
technology under a new chassis.
Similarly untouched by the ravages of time and technological progress is the
Russian state limousine, the Zil. The Moscow truck factory Zavod Imieni
Likhachev has built these representative cars since 1936.
Its current models date back to 1978. Both the seven-seater Zil 41047 and the
41041, which is shorter, have a 7.7-litre engine. The 3.5-ton car has 315
horsepower and can top 200 kilometres an hour.
Legendary Czech maker Tatra is currently winding up its long tradition as a
stable for luxurious automobiles. Since 1897 the small eastern Czech town of
Koprivnic has been the centre of a manufacturing industry producing cars and
trucks.
In 1974, the Type 613 was launched, a car whose angular bodywork was fairly
modern for the day. In 1996, the 613 was revamped and reintroduced as the 700 –
an eight-cylinder luxury saloon with a rear engine which was assembled until
spring 1998. Today, Tatra produces trucks only.
Skoda were associated for years with the rear-engined MB models, renowned for
their unreliability. The firm has since been taken over by Volkswagen of
Germany and now produces a range of western-style models.
East Germany’s Trabant minicar and the Wartburg were both victims of German
Reunification in 1990. The Trabant’s clattering two-stroke engine gave way to a
four-stroke unit from VW but it couldn’t save the marque. Wartburg’s angular
saloons were also rejected by east Germans keen to test the West and production
ceased.
Moskvich of Moscow can also look back on a long tradition. In 1929 the plant
began producing the Ford Model A under licence, and from 1946 the Moskvich 400,
based on Opel’s 1938 Kadett.
In later years, the firm produced various small saloons. Models 402 to 412 were
powered by four cylinder engines with 1.2- to 1.5- litre capacity, producing
between 35 and 72 horse power. The 412, which was made until 1976, was
superseded by the 2140, which has been built since 1986 and was developed with
the help of Renault. The 2141 was available in Germany for a time as the
Aleko.
In 1998, the model was completely reworked and given a two-litre engine. The
financially beleaguered firm is in future to be given a new lease of life by
producing a new model called Count Vladimir and licensed versions of Renault’s
Megane saloon.
Oddly though Moskvich acted as licenser, to the Izhmash arms factory, producers
of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, which made old Moskvichs from 1966 until
1998.
In 1986 the business presented its first in-house auto development, the IZH
2126. Today, it makes both the 2126 and a commercial vehicle, the 2717, which
are fitted with a 1.6l engine made by Lada and produce 77 horsepower. Besides
that, the Hyundai Accent and Atos are assembled from kits and under a joint
venture with Volkswagen. The Skoda Felicia is also produced under
licence.
Under a franchise agreement with Renault, the largest Romanian carmaker Dacia,
in Colibasi, established itself in the 1960s. Now it has been bought out by its
former licenser.
Its main product has for years been the Dacia 1410, based on the Renault 12 of
the 1970s, with 1.4-litre engine developing 62 horse power and the more modern
Dacia Nova with 70 horse power from 1.6 litres. The plant turns out 100,000
cars a year.
Cars from producer VAZ are better in Germany and Britain under the name Lada.
VAZ has its origins in the licensed production, begun in 1970, of Fiat’s boxy
1960s 124 model, offered abroad as the Lada Nova. That model is now built in
Russia’s Tolyatti production centre.
In Poland the 124 was reborn as the Polski Fiat. Production of the off-roader
Lada Niva began in 1978, followed in 1986 by the compact Samara.
